Life After You
by Kina Kalamari
Summary: Dylan is lost, Max is broken, and Fang has finally gone 'round the bend, and they're all trying to learn to live with life. Multi-song semi-songfic. Post-FANG reunion fic. Oneshot.


_**NOTE: This story was briefly posted as "Halfway Gone", so if your alert doesn't match up with the story, that's why. Sorry.**_

**A/N: So, I was sort of reluctant to jump on what I knew was going to become a bandwagon by writing a post-FANG reunion fic, and I originally didn't plan to. It wasn't until I heard the first three of the songs I'm using one day, and went "Holy crap! That totally fits!" After that I just had to do it. Hopefully the way I did it, with the songs, will help distinguish it from the rest in this ever-growing bout of fics. **

**I don't know if I'm the first, or just one of the very, very few to do a multi-song oneshot songfic. I certainly haven't seen any others. And I guess it's not really even a songfic. I mean, it's based around the songs, but I did my formatting a lot differently…I'll let anyone who reads this decide if it should be called a songfic or not, 'kay?**

**The songs are, in order, Her Diamonds by Rob Thomas, Here Without You by 3 Doors Down, A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton, and Never Gonna Be Alone by Nickelback. I do not own any of them, obviously, as they belong to their respective artists. Oh, and the title was taken from the song Life After You by Daughtry.**

**I also do not own Maximum Ride. That belongs solely to a certain arse named James Patterson who thought it would be a good idea for Fang to abandon Max to the arms of another birdkid…Kidding. I hold no grudge against JP, as much as I wish he'd picked a different way to end the sixth book. I want no one taking offense from this, as I certainly mean none.**

* * *

_Oh, what the hell__  
She says, I just can't win for losing  
__And she lays back down  
Man, there's so many times I don't know what I'm doing  
Like I don't know now  
And by the light of the moon she rubs her eyes  
Says it's funny how the night can make you blind  
I can just imagine  
And I don't know what I'm supposed to do  
But if she feels bad then I do too  
So I let her be_

Dylan's POV

I was lost.

Well, figuratively speaking. I guess I'd thought that once Max had gotten over Fang leaving, she'd let me in, let me take his place. But she never got over him. A year later she still cried herself to sleep at night.

Admittedly, I think I was the only one who knew that. Maybe Angel did, but Angel hadn't been herself for a long time either. Max put on her brave face for the rest of the flock during the day, and while I'm pretty sure they knew that everything wasn't completely right, they thought she was doing pretty good. A conversation between Iggy and Nudge had proved that.

"She seems to be coping better with Fang leaving, don't you think?" Iggy had said.

"She's still got a way to go," Nudge had replied. "But yeah, I think she's dealing."

But what were they, blind? She was hanging on by a thread. You'd think any ninny could see that. But no, I guess it was just me. Probably because I was the one who paid the most attention to her. I couldn't help it. I'd been made to love her, literally. I have yet to decide if that's a good thing or not, because sometimes I think my life really would've been better if I hadn't tried to get between Max and Fang. I should have known it would never work, but I guess that old, clichéd saying is true; love really can make you blind. And stupid.

It was rather late, and I was very tired, so I headed for my room. I wasn't surprised when I found Max there, stretched out on my bed. No, I hadn't managed to win her over; I just happened to have Fang's old room. It was the only available one, so I'd had to take it, and almost every night Max came in and curled up on the bed, hugging the pillow and crying softly.

"Hey, Max," I said quietly, announcing my presence. She immediately sat up and wiped her eyes. No matter how broken up she was, she still would never show weakness. Not that I couldn't tell exactly what she'd been doing. "How are you?"

I think if she'd been more up to it she would have given me a withering look, but tonight she didn't seem to have the energy. "I feel like I've been split down the center and half of me is lost," she replied, sounding congested. "How are you?"

I didn't bother replying to this. Instead I went over and sat down next to her. "Same, then?" I asked, hoping she'd warm to the humor. There'd been nights when she'd just ended up throwing the pillow at me and storming out of the room.

Luckily for me, this didn't seem to be one of them. She just shrugged and stared desolately at the floor. "I guess." She looked up. "Do you think it gets better?"

"I…" What could I say? Just the truth, I guess. "I don't know."

She looked at me for a moment, then nodded slowly, stood up, and left the room.

"Good night, Max," I whispered after her, and hoped with all my heart that someday, somehow, she would get better.

_And she says, ooh  
I can't take no more  
Her tears like diamonds on the floor  
And her diamonds bring me down  
'Cause I can't help her now  
She's down in it  
She tried her best and now she can't win it's  
Hard to see them on the ground  
Her diamonds falling down_

* * *

_A hundred days have made me older  
Since the last time that I saw your pretty face  
A thousand lives have made me colder  
And I don't think I can look at this the same  
But all the miles that separate  
Disappear now and I'm dreaming of your face_

Fang's POV

It'd been a year, and I still hadn't decided exactly how much of an idiot I was. A pretty big one, definitely. I think the only things stopping me from immediately flying off to look for Max were pride and the fear that she was over me and with Dylan. I really don't know if I'd be able to handle that. So I took the cowardly route and just kept wandering.

Leaving had actually been a pretty useless way to go. I had yet to find any other mutants in need of a leader (the one group I had found already had one, who had sneered at me and thrown me out of their "territory" with his truck-tossing super-strength; not pleasant), and I couldn't seem to find anything else useful to do with myself. I spent most of my time flying around and around the U.S., lost in daydreams about Max.

Which was what I was doing right now. I wasn't really sure where I was; probably around Nevada somewhere. I may have seen Las Vegas a little while back, big and bright. Not much really registered anymore.

Then I saw the cliff. Well. Guess where my wanderings had taken me? Yeah, the hawk place where I told Max to meet me in, what, nineteen years? Another stupid move on my part. Twenty freaking years? What was I thinking? Couldn't I have said one year? Then my being here might actually be worth something.

I circled down and landed in one of the caves. It was dark and cave-like, as was generally to be expected, seeing as it was a cave. I settled down against the wall and wondered what the heck I was doing here. It certainly wasn't because I hoped to see Max. After all, she wouldn't be here for another nineteen years, if at all, and that was a bit long to wait. No, I think I was here because it was a place that reminded me of her and the flock, and right now, I kind of needed that. Not that I ever didn't.

I dropped my head onto my knees. Why had I been so _stupid_? I tried to remember exactly what I thought leaving would do. I think it was because I thought I was distracting her. And because I was a danger to the flock. Not that they ever weren't in danger, and right now I didn't see how being distracted would always be a bad thing. A distraction would be wonderful right now. Keep me from going emo…well, more emo than I was. Yes, the great Fang, so long denying the accusations of being emo, now was. Joy. Self-inflicted emo-ness, nonetheless.

God, I was a mess.

_I'm here without you, baby  
But you're still on my lonely mind  
I think about you, baby  
And I dream about you all the time  
I'm here without, baby  
But you're still with me in my dreams  
And tonight, girl  
It's only you and me_

* * *

_Making my way downtown  
Walking fast  
Faces pass and I'm homebound  
Staring blankly ahead, just making my way  
Making a way through the crowd_

Max's POV

I wandered through the streets of some random town, not completely sure what I was doing there. Not even completely sure where I was. I needed to go somewhere, get out of the house. This…façade I put on for the flock was just too much sometimes. When I couldn't hold it anymore, I left. Once I'd regained a bit of my strength, I went back, and started it all over again.

I knew Dylan wished I would just get over Fang already, but that was way harder than he made it seem.

"He's gone, Max," he'd told me once. "He's not coming back any time soon. Can't you just accept that and move on?"

He hadn't said, "Accept that and let me in", but I knew that was what he really meant. What he really wanted. Still, as nice as Dylan was, he just wasn't for me. He was too open, too nice, too…emotionally immature, as much as that sounded like a psychology term. He didn't have the experience or the attitude that…Fang did. And I'd come back around to _him_. Didn't I always. I wondered vaguely if he ever thought about me, or if he was contentedly living his own life now. Just the thought of Fang not caring anymore made me feel a little nauseous and light-headed.

The tears began to threaten, and started sprinting through the streets, looking for a place I could safely take off from. People around me shouted in surprise and dodged hurriedly out of my way, but I barely noticed them. This was me, in a haze of emotional pain. Yippee.

I found the sort of spot I was looking for and hurled myself into the air, immediately turning on my superspeed. I didn't know where I was going, but I was gonna get there _fast_.

_It's always times like these that I think of you  
And I wonder if you ever  
Think of me  
'Cause everything's so wrong and I don't belong  
Living in your precious memory_

_'Cause I need you  
And I'll miss you  
And now I wonder  
If I could fall  
Into the sky  
Do you think time  
Would pass me by, oh  
'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles  
If I could just see you  
Tonight_

* * *

_Time is going by  
So much faster than I  
And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you  
Now I'm wondering why  
I've kept this bottled inside  
So I'm starting to regret not telling all of it to you  
So if I haven't yet  
I've gotta let you know…_

Fang's POV

When I saw the brown, tan, and green streak in the sky, my first thought was that I must be hallucinating, because it looked suspiciously like Max with her superspeed turned on to full, if she was wearing a green shirt. I really wasn't all that surprised that I'd finally gone 'round the bend, but it was still a little disconcerting.

When it slowed, stopped, and landed on top of the cliff that my cave was in, I just figured that was wishful thinking on my hallucination's part.

When I heard the clatter of rocks falling down the cliff-face, I thought, _Great. Now I'm hearing things too._

When Maximum Ride dropped down into the cave, wearing a green shirt, I think I nearly fainted. My throat closed up, and I knew I wouldn't be able to say anything for at least a minute. She was so beautiful…

…and I didn't deserve her. At all. I was an awful, horrible jerk who really should be shunned for eternity.

Max stared back at me, and I couldn't see anything in her eyes. I had no idea what she was thinking, which was just so unusual for us. We read each other like open books. Or we had. Before I'd won the award for the World's Worst Break-Up Initiation.

When she finally spoke, all she said was, "What are you doing here?", and her tone wasn't even particularly friendly, but just hearing her voice nearly made me melt. It had far too long since I'd heard it. I had barely been immune to its power when I heard it every day, and now…I might as well be a pile of mush, which is just so unlike me…

"I, uh…" I was finding it hard to answer her question. "I guess I just…ended up here."

"Huh." She tipped her head slightly. "Me too."

I could tell she was in defensive, closed-off mode, and I was going to have one hell of a time getting through to her. But I was _going_ to get through to her. I knew this was my one and only chance to explain, to try my damnedest to make it up to her. Not like I could, but maybe she could forgive me. Maybe.

"So…how are things?" I asked hesitantly. I was testing my limits with every word out of my mouth, I knew, but not knowing exactly what to do, I had to experiment and hope for the best.

"Oh, you know," she replied nonchalantly, waving her hand, "only completely awful and heartbroken since you left me with just this stupid _letter _to tell me why." She pulled a very wrinkled, abused-looking piece of paper out of her pocket and shook it at me. "What were you _thinking_, Fang?"

"I honestly don't know," I replied, aware that I was treading on thin ice. "I think I was trying to protect you, though now I can't figure out how, and possibly stop distracting you from your leaderly duties, though now that I think about it, that was somewhat idiotic. And then I gave you some far off date and left because I thought I was being heroic." I paused. "Or something. The details have gotten kinda fuzzy."

"What are you trying to say, Fang?" she asked impatiently, one hand resting on her hip. "That you shouldn't have left? Well, duh!"

I almost smiled at that. "I know, I know. I'm really sorry."

"Not gonna cut it, buster," she said, shaking her head. "This is _way_ past a simple 'I'm sorry'. Why don't you start with why you didn't come back?"

Oh, no. That admission was going to be so, so harmful to my ego…oh well. She had the right to know. "Idiocy, pride, and…Dylan."

Her eyes widened. "What? _Dylan_? Did he threaten you or something?"

"No," I said, "not really. It wasn't fear of _him_; he's a wuss." Max half-smiled when I said that, which actually made me feel pretty good about myself. "No, my problem was fear of being replaced, really. I had no idea what was going to happen once I left."

Max sighed. "You're an idiot. Dylan could never, ever replace _you_, Fang. No one could. Why do you think I was so heartbroken when you left?"

"How did I even know you were?" I retorted. "Max, if I had come back to find you all cozy with him, I'm pretty sure I would've either killed him or jumped off a cliff, wings in. The first would have just been bad, and the second…well, I figured I was better off not going there."

She stared at me for a long minute. "You're still an idiot."

"I figured."

"But at least you're an honest idiot," she continued. "I know it must've cost you a load of male pride to admit that."

I shrugged. "Who needs male pride, anyway?"

She smiled grimly, then beckoned with her forefinger. "Come here."

I don't know what I was hoping for (okay, so maybe I do), but it wasn't what I got. As soon as I was within arm's reach of her, she punched me hard in the stomach. As the air rushed out of me, I stared at her indignantly.

"What…the hell?" I managed to gasp.

"That's for leaving me," she said, glaring.

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. "Right. Well, if that's the way you're going to be–"

She didn't let me finish. She pulled me closer by the front of my shirt and kissed me. Out of breath as I was, it didn't last very long, but God, was it amazing. I'd never thought I would get that again.

"…and that's for damaging your lovely male ego to admit you were wrong," she concluded.

"Oh." I looked down at her, and suddenly her eyes were open books again. All her bravado was just a façade. Underneath, she was broken. And it was my fault.

I pulled her close, wrapping my arms tightly around her. "I really am tremendously sorry," I told her quietly. "Take me back?"

With her face buried in my chest, I couldn't see her expression, and her next words didn't tell me much either.

"Since when do you say 'tremendously'?" she asked, her voice muffled. "Kind of a big word for you, don't you think?"

"Shut up," I replied, smiling. "It was a big statement. It needed a big word. And you didn't answer the very important question at the end of said statement."

She was quiet for a moment, then asked, "You promise to never, ever, ever leave me again? Whether it's for my own good or not? No matter how mad at me you are?"

"I promise," I replied solemnly. "I'll be with you forever, whether you like it or not."

She looked up at me. "How do I know you're not going to break your promise again? It's not like you haven't told me this already, you know."

I winced. "I know. But I think I've learned my lesson." I jokingly held up my hand, pinky extended. "Pinky swear, even."

She smiled and locked pinkies with me. "This is so stupid."

I shrugged. "Who cares?" I dropped my hand, and her hand came too, her fingers twining around mine. "It just means that I'll swear by anything you want me to that I will be with you for the rest of your life, to hell with the consequences."

"I like that," she said thoughtfully. "It's a good motto, you know?" She took on an overly pompous voice, and said, "We'll fix your plumbing, to hell with the consequences!"

The cave reverberated with our laughter for minutes after that, and my biggest thought was that _this_ was how it should be, and that I had _so_ learned my lesson.

…_You're never gonna be alone  
From this moment on  
If you ever feel like letting go  
I won't let you fall  
When all hope is gone  
I know that you can carry on  
We're gonna take the world on  
I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone_

_I'm gonna be there all of the way  
I won't be missing one more day  
I'm gonna be there all the way  
I won't be missing one more day_

* * *

**A/N: And there it is, possibly the first of its kind. Seriously, if anyone reading this has read another oneshot with more than one song in it, let me know. I'm quite curious. **

**And, of course, review and give me your thoughts on it.**

**Oh, and has anyone seen How To Train Your Dragon? Extraordinary movie (I saw it twice in the theaters, within a week), and I actually stole something from it in this fic. Not an exact quote, but very similar. If you have seen it, you can let me know if found what I'm talking about. There's also one in there that I stole from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (also not an exact quote, but that one's closer than the HTTYD one), but I've noticed that there really aren't a lot of BtVS fans that are also MR fans, and vice-versa, so I would be **_**very**_** surprised if anyone noticed that one. Not to mention it's a rather obscure quote.**

**Yeah, aaaaaanyway…sorry for the large digression. You can review now. =)**


End file.
